Gary Crawford

After teaching high school in Ohio, Gary served in the Peace Corps (Micronesia), then trained volunteers for service in Ponape, Tonga, Yap, Tuvalu, Ghana, and Malaysia. In 1979, he joined the faculty of the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute where for eight years he was Associate Dean of the School of Language Studies. Buying a home on Tilghman’s Island in 1980, he and his wife Susan established a bookstore there in 1993, Crawfords Nautical Books. Since retirement in 1998, both have been active in civic affairs. Gary helped found the Tilghman Watermen’s Museum, served nine years on the Board of Phillips Wharf Environmental Center and six years on Talbot County’s Village Center Board. Susan is a practicing painter and president of the St. Michaels Art League. Gary has authored numerous publications about the area, including some video presentations, and for five years published the “Island Flyer,” a weekly paper for Tilghman Island.